WACO, Texas - Baylor earned the No. 3 seed in the South Region in the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, securing the ninth overall seed in the 68-team tournament field. Baylor is making its seventh NCAA tournament appearance in program history and the third of the Scott Drew era.

Baylor (27-7) will face No. 14 South Dakota State (27-7), automatic qualifier from The Summit League, on Thu., March 15, at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M. Thursday's game time is scheduled for 6:27 p.m. CDT (5:27 p.m. MDT) on truTV (Time Warner 75 / Grande 55). Should the Bears win, they will face the winner of No. 6 UNLV and No. 11 Colorado on Sat., March 17, at the same venue.

Baylor will receive approximately 500 tickets for its first-round game vs. South Dakota State. Due to the limited number of tickets Baylor will receive, only Bear Foundation members and 2011-12 men's basketball season ticket holders will be allowed to purchase tickets, and they may do so online at BaylorBears.com or by calling the Baylor ticket office starting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, March 12. Tickets, which are priced at $80 each, will be allocated using the Bear Foundation's priority points system.

BAYLOR NCAA NOTES:• Baylor is 6-8 in six previous NCAA Tournaments (last appearance in 2010). • Baylor has played in two Final Fours (1948 and 1950) and one national championship (lost to Kentucky in 1948 title game). • Nine Baylor opponents made the Field of 68 and Baylor is 10-7 this season against the 2012 NCAA Tournament field - Texas (2-0), Iowa State (1-1), Kansas State (2-1), Missouri (0-3), Kansas (1-2), West Virginia (1-0), BYU (1-0), Saint Mary's (1-0), San Diego State (1-0). • Baylor and South Dakota State will be meeting for the first time Thursday. Baylor is 18-8 all-time vs. current members of The Summit League. • 2012 is Baylor's fourth NCAA Tournament berth since 1950 (first three appearances were in 8-team NCAA bracket). • Baylor's series records vs. possible third-round opponents: Baylor is 9-15 vs. Colorado (former Big 12 member; last meeting in 2011) and 2-1 vs. UNLV (last meeting in 1982). • All seven of Baylor's losses this season came to teams in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship field. • Four current players on the Baylor roster have previous NCAA Championship experience - Quincy Acy, Fred Ellis, Cory Jefferson, Anthony Jones and A.J. Walton were members on Baylor's 2010 NCAA Elite Eight team. Fred Ellis was a redshirt on Baylor's 2008 NCAA tournament team. Senior J'mison Morgan, who is redshirting this season, was on the 2008-09 UCLA team that lost in the second round to Villanova. • Baylor is 172-312 all-time against the other 67 teams in the NCAA Championship field (have faced 49 of the possible 67 opponents).